Duncan Jone's Mute Finally Gets a Release Date on Netflix

Fans of director Duncan Jones won't have to wait much longer for his next film Mute, with the filmmaker taking to Twitter this morning to reveal that Netflix has set a February 23 premiere date for this upcoming movie. This comes just a few weeks after Netflix unveiled the first look at Paul Rudd and Alexander Skarsgard, and while it isn't clear when the first trailer will arrive, the director sent out a lengthy Twitter thread to his followers, where he examined the ups and downs of this project. Here's his full statement below.

"So some of you may be aware that I have previously called @Mute my 'Don Quixote.' I did this, as much like Terry Gillian's fabled film of that name, it seemed everything was against Mute ever being made. In fact, here's an early draft... from 2003! Back then the film was a very different beast. It was set in London, contemporary and the cast would have been Cary Grant, Boris Karloff & Bela Lugosi. Ok. Maybe not that cast... It was going to be my first film. I sent it to Sam Rockwell who loved it! But he wanted to play Leo, the part that would later go to Alex Skarsgard. I wouldn't budge but was so enamoured with Sam, I decided to write something just for him. That was Moon. Years past, Mute kept being pushed to the back burner. Life filled up with Source Code, my amazing wife's successful battle with cancer, Warcraft, dad's cancer, baby, the wonderful woman who raised me, Marion's sad loss to brain cancer. We'd do a graphic novel with @FabryGlenn. But sadly that book never fully came to fruition. But one day... @netflix came to town! Netflix, these crazy new kids on the block, had this totally crazy philosophy on film making straight out of the 70s. Don't make 4 quad "please everyone" homogenous blobs! Make films filmmakers are passionate about & let the audience find them! So here we are. Mute. Starring Alex Skarsgård, Justin Theroux & Paul Rudd. Out on Netflix February 23. Got there in the end!"

The film is set in Berlin, the future, but close enough to feel familiar. In this loud, often brutal city, Leo (Alexander Skarsgard), unable to speak from a childhood accident, searches for his missing girlfriend, the love of his life, his salvation, through dark streets, frenzied plazas, and the full spectrum of the cities shadow-dwellers. As he seeks answers, Leo finds himself mixed up with Cactus Bill (Paul Rudd) and Duck (Justin Theroux), a pair of irreverent US army surgeons on a mission all their own. This soulful sci-fi journey from filmmaker Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code, Warcraft) imagines a world of strange currencies in which echoes of love and humanity are still worth listening to.

Mute is directed by Duncan Jones and written by Jones and Michael Robert Johnson. The film is produced by Stuart Fenegan. Charles J.D. Schissel and Trevor Beattie are executive producers. Netflix picked up Mute back in September 2016, with production beginning just a few weeks later. Now that the premiere has been set, it seems likely the first trailer may be just around the corner. Here's what producer Stuart Fenegan had to say about the director's passion project when filming got under way.

"Duncan handed me a version of Mute at our very first meeting together 13 years ago and I have wanted to bring it to life ever since. We just had to make Moon, Source Code and Warcraft in between, and in that time Netflix has become the place for original films. The perfect home for Mute."

While this Netflix movie obviously won't be hitting theaters, it will be released on the same day as a number of high-profile theatrical releases. Debuting in theaters on that date is Warner Bros. Game Night, Paramount's Annihilation, Orion Pictures' Every Day and The Weinstein Company's The War With Grandpa. Take a look at all of the director's messages to the fans, courtesy of Duncan Jones Twitter.

So some of you may be aware that I have previously called @Mute my “Don Quixote.” I did this, as much like Terry Gillian’s fabled film of that name, it seemed everything was against Mute ever being made. In fact, here’s an early draft... from 2003! pic.twitter.com/p4LhzmMXOi

Back then the film was a very different beast. It was set in London, contemporary and the cast would have been Cary Grant, Boris Karloff & Bela Lugosi. Ok. Maybe not that cast... pic.twitter.com/hJhb5ebTXC

It was going to be my first film. I sent it to Sam Rockwell who loved it! ...but he wanted to play Leo, the part that would later go to Alex Skarsgård. I wouldn’t budge but was so enamoured with Sam, I decided to write something just for him. That was Moon. pic.twitter.com/yVeDLyazA2

Years past, Mute kept being pushed to the back burner. Life filled up with Source Code, my amazing wife’s successful battle with cancer, Warcraft, dad’s cancer, baby, the wonderful woman who raised me, Marion’s sad loss to brain cancer. We’d do a graphic novel with @FabryGlennpic.twitter.com/jCSqoq8uXx

Netflix, these crazy new kids on the block, had this totally crazy philosophy on film making straight out of the 70s. Don’t make 4 quad “please everyone” homogenous blobs! Make films fimmakers are passionate about & let the audience find them! pic.twitter.com/xtiU3P2C4H